'Lolita' show manager assaulted in Russia

Moscow, Jan 16 (IANS/RIA Novosti) The manager of a one-man show based on Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" was assaulted in St. Petersburg city, his colleagues said on the social network Vkontakte.

Unidentified men invited Artyom Suslov, 23, for an interview about the show, according to art club Bolt, where Suslov works.

But instead he was attacked in the street near the rendezvous point by three masked men, Rosbalt.ru news website said.

The attackers beat up Suslov and forced him at gunpoint to plead guilty of paedophilia on camera, said Bolt, where Suslov often performs readings of his poetry.

Suslov sustained a possible concussion, but was not hospitalised. Police was looking into the incident.

The assailants made no direct mention of "Lolita", which premiered at Bolt in December, but instead cited Suslov posting on his Vkontakte page artwork by acclaimed US photographer Sally Mann depicting naked children, Bolt said.

However, "Lolita's" performer Leonid Mozgovoi and the administration of the Nabokov Museum in St. Petersburg earlier received threats over their alleged propaganda of child abuse.